


The Dragon Queen

by were_duck



Series: Mother always said there were no monsters [3]
Category: Aliens (1986)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Collection: Purimgifts Day 3, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-22
Updated: 2013-02-22
Packaged: 2017-12-03 05:54:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/694905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/were_duck/pseuds/were_duck
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Base image is from a preliminary sketch of the Alien Queen by James Cameron. Image source from <a href="http://alienseries.wordpress.com/tag/alien-queen/">Alien Series Blog Post: Alien Queen</a></p></blockquote>





	The Dragon Queen

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lyryk (s_k)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/s_k/gifts).



"We must find her," the Prince cried.

Vasquez took the Prince's arm and nodded, face weary with grief.

"We will," the warrior said, pushing a torch into Ripley's hands. "Perhaps that good-for-nothing magician has proven himself useful after all and helped her escape." They armed themselves and started down the cliffside.

The Prince clutched her breast as they walked, desperately hoping that the girl's fierce terror would awaken something in her again, that by some magic she might find her and rescue her as surely she was meant to do. Why else should she sleep those years, to awaken now?

They found a trail of charred scrub south of the village. The dragons had done little to disguise their path, leaving their marks of death and agony behind.

They followed it to the source, a warren of caves that spewed a miasma of disease. The caves were dank and stank of gore and bile, and things slithered out of the corner of her vision. The Prince moved steadfastly forward, never pausing to doubt her goal. She had no way of knowing the way forward beyond her certainty that she simply _would_ save this little goatherd, that all of this was not for nothing.

A moan from a cave to the right. Ripley caught a woman, her eyes swimming in black, lurching towards them. "Help... me... kill me, please..." she sobbed, scrabbling for the Prince's sword. Vasquez pulled her back, and the woman convulsed violently.

"Please..." she screamed, then her rib cage exploded open, an infant dragon covered in gore and swirling black magic, squalling and hissing at them. The Prince grabbed Vasquez and they stumbled away, horror and fear lending speed to their desperate feet.

They came to an enormous cavern, studded with round nodules. The low thrum in the cavern was deafening.

Before them was a dragon ten times the size of any they'd seen. It was black as dark oil and had an enormous crown of bone that swept back over its neck, and an even huger, bulging stomach. This was the queen, deadly and powerful, and here was the egg chamber of the dragon hive.

The Prince shuddered, and almost turned back to flee when she caught sight of something stirring at the queen's feet. Something... golden.

Below the monster there was Newt, encased in a hideous web. She mouthed Ripley's name, eyes wide.

"Do not move," a voice said behind them, and Ripley cursed under her breath as Burke laid a cold edge of steel against her throat.

"I am truly sorry, my lady," he said into her ear. "I wanted this to end differently, but now that we are here, her power is too great to let go."

Ripley stared ahead at the great dragon, which had begun to growl menacingly at the intruders. Ripley could feel the thing's magic pulsing at the edges of her mind, black tendrils waiting for their chance to force themselves into her will and then destroy her from the inside out. The feeling tugged at her memory, at the blankness of all that she could not remember happening just before her great sleep.

The Prince knew, with dawning horror, that this must be how Newt's family had died. First their souls were engulfed, then their bodies became nightmare shells, hosts for the black creatures growing within them. If she weren't in such danger, she might have retched.

"Bastard whoreson!" Vasquez screamed, voice raw with fury, and leapt at Burke, heedless of the danger to the Prince. The queen dragon roared at the sound and chaos erupted.

Dragons swarmed the cavern, each tipped in venom and steel, and only Ripley's quick wits and Burke's half second of surprise spared her an opened throat or worse. She rolled away as Vasquez tackled him, knives flashing too quickly to see, and the dragons descended swiftly on them both.

The Prince heard the moment they both died, their screams giving way to gory crunching.

Ripley darted away, hacking at the few stray monsters that got in her path. She ducked behind a pillar and struck a match, lighting the pitch-soaked torch hanging from her belt, and hurtled forward to face the queen. The dragons in her corner of the cavern hissed and darted away from the flame.

The monster growled throatily at her, its magic tearing viciously at the Prince, slowing her muscles and nipping at her mind. The creature's magic was intangible, but her fangs were all too real.

Ripley turned away from the beast, locked her gaze with Newt, and pressed forward. She stood amidst the eggs, torch blazing, and with one daring motion sliced an egg cleanly in half.

The queen screamed in outrage, scorpion tail whipping threateningly.

Ripley pointed her sword at the queen, then the girl, who was struggling to escape her trap. The Prince ran forward and broke the web, pulling the girl behind her. The queen screamed and surged forward, knocking the Prince aside and snapping at Newt. The torch fell, guttering and rolling across the stone out of the Prince's reach.

The Prince pulled her last weapon from the breast of her mail shirt. She pulled the stopper from the tiny vial and hurled it at the queen.

"Get away from her, you bitch!" she growled, and the vial exploded against the monster's carapace, engulfing it in blue flame.

Newt grabbed at Ripley, screaming at her to run, and they left at breakneck speed away from the agonized screams of the queen dragon. The lesser monsters swarmed towards her, ineffective and only catching fire themselves.

The Prince and the girl emerged from the warren just as the screams of the monsters gave way to the deeper roar of the earth. They watched as the caves collapsed, taking the nightmares with them once and for all.

Ripley clutched Newt in her arms like she might never let go. "Come on, baby. Let's go home."

**Author's Note:**

> Base image is from a preliminary sketch of the Alien Queen by James Cameron. Image source from [Alien Series Blog Post: Alien Queen](http://alienseries.wordpress.com/tag/alien-queen/)


End file.
